Navy overwhelms Army

PHILADELPHIA -- Tired of hearing the gap with its biggest rival had closed, Navy made a statement.

Adam Ballard had 192 of the Midshipmen's 490 yards rushing, leading Navy to a 42-23 victory over Army in the 106th meeting between the service academies.

Quarterback Lamar Owens added 99 yards rushing and three TDs, Ballard scored twice and Reggie Campbell had a 54-yard TD run for bowl-bound Navy (7-4).

The Midshipmen have won four straight and six of the last seven games against Army to take a one-game lead in the overall series at 50-49-7.

"I would've been satisfied with a one-point victory, but we wanted to prove that we're on a different level," Owens said. "That's a team that was calling us out, saying they were better than for us whatever reason. We listened to that for two weeks. To come out and play the way we did was phenomenal."

Zac Dahman tossed three TD passes and had 255 yards passing for Army (4-7), which had a four-game winning streak snapped.

Navy outscored Army 134-31 in the previous three meetings, winning each one by 28 points or more. But the Black Knights came out strong led 10-7 midway through the second quarter.

The Midshipmen responded with TD runs of 28 and 1 yards by Owens to take a 21-10 lead at halftime. Ballard's 67-yard scamper made it 42-17 just 9 seconds into the fourth quarter.

Navy captured the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy outright for the third straight year.